€500 notes withdrawn from circulation to scupper gangsters

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Hundreds of millions of pounds’ worth of €500 notes — beloved by
money-launderers — have been withdrawn from circulation in Britain to make
it harder for criminals to move money.

The Serious Organised Crime Agency has been monitoring the impact it is having
on international gangs as they attempt to get as many of the high
denomination notes as possible.

Known as the “Bin Laden” — as everyone knows they are out there but no one has
ever seen one — the purple notes are the gangsters’ choice because they can
put huge sums in small cases: £1 million weighs 50kg in £20s but